THE next generation of footballers made their way through the AFL draft on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 November, with a few familiar surnames among them. Former Frankston VFA stars Steve Hamill, Paul Williams and Paul Foot all shared the exciting, yet slightly relieving, feeling of seeing their sons get drafted alongside some of Australia’s best up-and-coming talent. Will Hamill (pick no. 30), Bailey Williams (pick no. 35) and Zac Foot (pick no. 51) will all be heading interstate to live out their dream of playing with the elite in the AFL. Hamill will be heading to the Adelaide Crows,…
Author: Ben Triandafillou
ATHLETES from across the country descended upon the Thomas Barclay Oval, Hastings in hopes of claiming the inaugural running of the Hastings Gift on Saturday 17 November. With $8,000 up for grabs in the 120-metre men’s and women’s feature events, the Hastings Gift was bound to attract plenty of attention. But it was the local Mornington Peninsula-based sprinting team, Pride Performance, who came to the fore in the 120m Women’s Gift as Sophia Fighera took out the first edition of the Women’s Hastings Gift. Fighera (5.00 handicap) finished ahead of Cara Boustead (10.00) and Commonwealth Games competitor Maddie Coates (-2.00)…
THE Mornington Cycling Club hosted their season’s highlight, the MCC Road Club Championships, in Main Ridge on Saturday 10 November. The MCC Road Club Championships has long been touted as the club’s biggest day of the year, and this year it was certainly no different. The pinnacle of the club’s year had the biggest turnout they’ve ever had with the women’s competition enjoying more popularity than in recent years. Mornington Cycling Club president Bruce Trew said the event certainly lived up to its high expectations. “It went really well,” Trew said. “The weather was perfect. It was meant to be…
FROM suffering defeat in a lowly rated maiden to finding success at the elite level, a group of former Carrum footballers have enjoyed living out a piece of their “bag of dreams” over the recent spring racing carnival. The Robbie Laing-trained and aptly named colt, Stars of Carrum, surged his way into the $2 million Group One Victoria Derby field on Saturday 3 November where he finished runners-up and took his winning prize money to $526,355 from nine starts. Despite looking unlikely to have enough earnings to make the Derby field, the 20-strong ownership group along with trainer, Robbie Laing,…
BETTER Tennis’ fourth and final bronze tournament for the year, the 2018 Frankston Cup, had some exceptional talent on and off the court. The three day event which kicked off on Saturday 3 November had more than 180 talented juniors competing across the Frankston and Overport Park venues. There was also the rare sighting of Australian tennis star and former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, on the sidelines cheering on his son, Cruz, who competed in the under-12s competition. Cruz made the quarter-finals in the 64 player draw. Retired professional tennis player Peter Luczak also attended the tournament. Better Tennis…